The European federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners today in lamenting the failure to convict the alleged mastermind in the trial for the murder of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and hope that the demoralising verdict will swiftly be overturned on appeal. On 2 September, powerful Maltese business tycoon Yorgen Fenech was cleared by a jury of any involvement in the journalist’s 2017 car-bomb assassination, leaving the case in a state of partial impunity. The jury in the Maltese capital Valletta reached its decision on the first day after just eight hours of…

One of Malta’s richest men, Yorgen Fenech, has been found not guilty of involvement in the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. On 2 September, nearly nine years after her death in a car bombing in October 2017, a jury of six women and three men found Yorgen Fenech, 44, not guilty of both counts with which he had been charged: complicity in the voluntary homicide of Daphne Caruana Galizia, and association with the intention of committing a crime. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemns the failure of the Maltese judiciary and authorities to convict the mastermind in…

On 27 August 2026, the mother of the journalist Ulviyya Guliyeva (also known as Ulviyya Ali), raised concerns for her daughter’s safety being held at Baku Pretrial Detention Center. Guliyeva’s detention is part of a wider crackdown on independent media in Azerbaijan, where dozens of journalists have been imprisoned since late 2023. This includes the nine Toplum TV journalists and media workers who were unjustly sentenced to up to 15 years in prison on 27 July 2026. Among them is Toplum TV co-founder Alasgar Mammadli, who has reportedly been denied medical care following cardiac episodes and an untreated thyroid growth.…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) fully supports the Greek journalist Thanasis Koukakis as he brings his surveillance case before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). On 26 August, Greek journalist Thanasis Koukakis’s lawyers filed an application before the ECHR against Greece arguing domestic judicial authorities failed to fully investigate the violation of the journalist’s private communications and the infection of his phone with Predator spyware in 2021.  “This application is a crucial step in ensuring that independent and impartial investigations are carried out and that those responsible for unlawfully surveilling journalists are held accountable. Surveillance tactics not only…

On 25 and 26 August, journalists covering anti-migrant demonstrations in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa, were verbally and physically harassed by protesters. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) join their Spanish affiliates in condemning these attacks and calling on the authorities to guarantee the safety of journalists and media workers. The Spanish enclave of Ceuta experienced a mass influx of migrants over its border with Morocco on 30 and 31 July, with more than seventy thousand people arriving. While many returned to Morocco, between around three and seven thousand migrants, including unaccompanied minors, remain in the enclave.…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) join their affiliate the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS) in raising concerns over the response of Alpac Capital CEO Pedro Vargas David to Minister of Information and Telecommunications Boris Bratina. Rather than alleviating employees’ concerns about the future of Adria News Network (ANN) media outlets, the wording of the response raises further questions about the new owner’s approach to the editorial policies of the newsrooms. NUNS has already warned that representatives of the executive branch must not dictate to media owners how they should manage their…

Today, on Ukraine independence day, our Ukrainian affiliate, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) launched the International Advisory Council of the Journalists’ Solidarity Centers, a pro bono, non-governing advisory board. The new group of international experts will advise NUJU on journalists’ safety, media resilience and the strategic development of its nationwide Solidarity Centers network. The group will also help connect the needs of Ukrainian journalists and independent media with international expertise, professional solidarity and appropriate forms of support. “Ukrainian journalists and media are working in conditions that change almost every week, from missile and drone attacks to displacement,…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the undersigned organisations raise alarm over the spiral of violence against journalists in Serbia that has intensified over the past weeks. Since our international mission to Belgrade in March, online death threats and threats of sexual violence targeting independent media professionals and their families are flourishing with near-total impunity.  The undersigned organisations urgently reiterate our calls on Serbian authorities to put an end to the climate of impunity by prosecuting those who attack media professionals, refraining from the use of dangerous rhetoric, and publicly denouncing any attempt to silence public interest reporting.  While…

By Valeriia Muskharina and Viktoria Malyovana, from the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU).  No contact. No charges. No legal status. This is what incommunicado detention looks like: enforced isolation from the world and one of the most profound forms of human suffering. For three years now, journalist Anastasiia Hlukhovska from occupied Melitopol has been held incommunicado after being abducted by Russian security forces in August 2023. For civilian detainees like Anastasiia, incommunicado detention often means more than isolation. People held this way can disappear into a system where there are no court hearings to follow, no official charges to…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the International Press Institute (IPI) and and the CASE Coalition in urging Hungary’s Minister of Justice and Minister for Social Relations and Culture to ensure the adoption of a strong anti-SLAPP law and accept the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union’s request for an in-person consultation. Meaningful dialogue with expert civil society organisations in Hungary is of utmost importance. A letter was sent last Monday, 17 August, to Márta Görög, Hungary’s Minister of Justice, and Zoltán Tarr, Minister for Social Relations and Culture. Read the full letter sent by IPI below:   Dear Márta Görög…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), together with the Balkan Free Media Initiative (BFMI) and Article 19 Europe, today sent a letter to the European Board of Media Services (Media Board). We reiterated serious concerns regarding the proposed sale of the Adria News Network to Alpac Capital/European Future Media Investment and formally requested immediate regulatory scrutiny under applicable European media transparency, competition and media pluralism frameworks.  New evidence reignites concerns over the impact of such a concentration on the internal market and on the editorial independence, which would benefit from an opinion by the Media Board.  Given Alpac Capital’s history…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) project, stands in full solidarity with the French regional daily newspaper Nice-Matin, which is currently facing a defamation lawsuit filed by Renaud Muselier, the president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regional council. The EFJ is calling on Renaud Muselier to drop the defamation lawsuit, failing that, it calls on the court to dismiss the case which we consider to be abusive, in retaliation to quality public-interest reporting. The EFJ also strongly condemns  the deeply concerning incident that occurred a few days ago, in which Ugo Massi,…

2025 witnessed one of the most significant institutional developments in the media sector: the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), Regulation (EU) 2024/1083, which became fully applicable across the European Union in August 2025. One year after its implementation into national law on 8 August the overall picture falls far short of expectations. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its affiliates in EU Member States are closely following the often complicated implementation at national level and monitoring its developments. Together with the results of this year’s Media Pluralism Monitor, which includes insights on EMFA-related themes analysing its state of play,…

Six years on from the fraudulent Belarusian elections of 9 August 2020, the crackdown on press freedom in Belarus has intensified, with 21 journalists currently imprisoned and those in exile facing intimidation. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) joins their affiliate, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), in calling for an end to the criminalisation of journalists, and for the immediate and unconditional release of all those imprisoned for doing their job. Since the fraudulent Belarusian elections on 9 August 2020, President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s regime has increased pressure on dissidents and intensified its crackdown on the press, handing out disproportionate…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) project, joins its Albanian affiliate, the Association of Journalists of Albania (AGSH), in raising concerns over the new internal Regulation of the Special Court against Corruption and Organized Crime (GJKKO) which introduces significant restrictions on journalists’ access to and reporting from court proceedings. The regulation which deviates clearly from the 2023 High Judicial Council Guidelines on relations between courts, the public and the media was secretly adopted without any prior consultation. We call on the Special Court against Corruption and Organized Crime to immediately postpone…

The Greek parliament adopted on 31 July 2026 a bill introducing formal legal safeguards against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPS). The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) join their Greek affiliates, in welcoming “a significant step forward for press freedom.” Following key interventions by EFJ-IFJ affiliate, the Journalists’ Union of Athens Daily Newspapers (JUADN), during both the public consultation and the parliamentary committee process, the Deputy Minister of Justice, Mr Bougas, accepted and incorporated, through an amendment, a provision allowing courts to examine – on the basis of the principle of equality before the law – whether a…